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It’s a Merry Christmas from Time Warner Cable, with rate increases for one and all!
The cable company that usually waits for the holiday season to end before sending out annual “rate adjustment” notices got an early start this year with some dramatic price changes for many customers, with further rate hikes likely to follow later in 2015.
Taking a lead from Comcast, Time Warner Cable is hiking its broadband modem lease fee from $6 a month to $8 a month in January. That equals $96 a year for a modem that not too long ago used to be included at no extra charge as part of your broadband subscription. A typical customer with a Motorola SB6141 DOCSIS 3 cable modem can buy a brand new unit for nearly $20 less than what Time Warner will collect from customers each year for refurbished or used equipment… forever.
In 2013, Time Warner Cable’s Rob Marcus admitted the company does not charge modem rental fees to defray the cost of the equipment, but as a hidden rate increase designed to generate more revenue.
“The modem fee is a rate increase by all accounts, it takes a different form than usual […] it’s very much a part of the overall revenue generation program,” Marcus told an audience of investment banks.
Customers that lost analog channels after Time Warner Cable began converting part of its lineup to digital-only service were offered free Digital Adapters to continue receiving digital cable channels on older analog sets. Customers were expecting a promised $0.99 monthly lease fee for the devices starting January 1, 2015. Instead customers will now pay $2.75 a month for each DTA device, estimated to cost cable companies less than $50 each three years ago.
But the charges don’t end there.
The Broadcast TV Surcharge for cable television subscribers will increase from $2.25 to $2.75 a month;- A new “Sports Programming Surcharge” of $2.75 a month now applies to all cable television customers, whether they watch sports channels or not;
- That on-screen program guide does not come for free. The primary outlet “discounted guide” surcharge is rising from $2.77 to $3.27 a month;
- HBO will increase from $14.99 to $16.99 a month; the Movie Pass package of Encore movie channels and certain other networks is rising $2 a month, from $5.99 to $7.99.
Part of the sales pitch Time Warner makes to justify rate increases is that broadband speeds have increased up to 100Mbps. Except they haven’t in many Time Warner Cable markets, which remain locked in with maximum speeds of 50/5Mbps for the indefinite future.
Thanks to Stop the Cap! reader Joseph for sharing Time Warner’s letter with us.
We finally crossed the 12 month point and our discounted rate went up to the “regular” rate. It was almost $10 higher than we were expecting – $61. Everyone who owns their own modem should call TW and make sure the “modem rental” hasn’t been added back on!
Also, if you own a DOCSIS 2 modem and have “Standard” Internet, their policy is to cap you at 21Mbps, even though you should get as much as 38Mbps. With a DOCSIS 3 modem, they’d give you 50 now. We’re going to tough it out with this $12 modem until our Google Fiber comes in June.
Once u have google fiber you can never go back to below average internet service. Be prepared.
Take a look at a refurbished or used Motorola 6121 modem which is a less-capable DOCSIS 3 modem and could run around $50 or less. With six months or more or modem fees at $8 a month, you might come out ahead and not get stuck with slower Internet while waiting.
Cancelled TWC over a year ago because I saw whee it was headed and this is it. DirecTV was the first to implement mandatory broadcast fees and sports package fees with no opt out and it was a matter of time before others followed suit. Unfortunately, we are stuck with TWC for Internet, but even so I have gotten friends and family their own equipment to save the fees. If we could get Google Fiber, TWC would be toast here. Plus Syracuse is looking at doing a community fiber project which would give people an alternative.
It is nice to see Syracuse thinking about taking back control of their broadband future. In Rochester, we have at least one city council member already writing love letters to regulators about Comcast taking over Time Warner Cable. It’s no surprise the city council here hasn’t thought much about community broadband when Comcast is ready and willing to write checks.
I recently bought my own cable modem when the modem rental fee got increased (again). I found a website called http://www.buyyourmodem.com that did a great comparison of the modems on Time Warner Cable’s supported modem list so I could pick the best one for my needs.